Cliff Robinson aims to 'knock down the myth that athletes and cannabis don't mix'

During the early 1990s, Cliff Robinson led the bench unit for the Portland Trail Blazers as the team's designated sixth man. These days Robinson remains a leading man, but now he's making a name for himself in the marijuana industry through a partnership with Portland-based company Pistil Point Cannabis.

Located in a sprawling warehouse on the banks of the Willamette in North Portland, Pistil Point is the first exclusive indoor cannabis growing facility in the city. The warehouse was once the home of a car audio speaker manufacturer and is still being built out to keep up with the continued growth of Pistil Point. A growth that can be directly linked to Robinson serving as the company's brand ambassador along with his line of Uncle Cliffy sports cannabis products.

Former Portland Trail Blazers player Cliff Robinson is an ambassador for Pistil Point Cannabis and an advocate for recreational and medical marijuana use in professional athletics.Sean Meagher/Staff

"When you have brand ambassadors like Cliff Robinson, you are speaking to a much wider audience," Pistil Point co-founder Sid Gupta said. "You really need voices to reach a wider audience about what this medication represents and how it is to be controlled. Having people like Cliff on board can help make a difference."

For Robinson, the partnership with Pistil Point has been quite promising as well. With his Uncle Cliffy-branded pre-roll sports cannabis joints recently hitting the market, Robinson believes everything is heading in the right direction.

"We just launched, so just like with anything new, it needs time to grow," Robinson said. "Right now we are happy to have some products on the shelves, to show some progress in the company [and to] show that we are continuing to go off down the road that I set for the company."

Initially, Robinson planned on calling his company Uncle Spliffy, a nickname he infamously earned from NBA writer Peter Vecesy due to the marijuana-related suspensions he earned during his playing days. But after discussing it with others in the industry, Robinson switched the company name to Uncle Cliffy, a moniker he is affectionately well-known for among Blazers fans. The change was also, according to Gupta, to make the company more synonymous with what Robinson stands for and not to be associated with those who abuse marijuana.

Not being viewed as typical marijuana company is key for Robinson. The mission behind Uncle Cliffy is to feature the muscle recovery and pain relief benefits of the plant and his products are aimed directly at athletes.

Robinson openly admits to using cannabis during his 18-year NBA career and says using marijuana helped him deal with anxiety, allowing him to become more focused in all aspects of his life. He also strongly believes that his use contributed to the longevity of his career. He wants other professional athletes to take advantage of the benefits of cannabis.

"[I want] to knock down the myth that athletes and cannabis don't mix," Robinson said. "I played 18 years in the NBA and I used cannabis on and off along the way and I didn't have a problem."

Robinson and Pistil Point claim that the strains of marijuana used in his Uncle Cliffy products are intended to offer users better focus and provide body recovery while aiding the muscle restoration process.

While smoking is the most popular way to consume marijuana, it's not the only way. The company has been working on a topical line of Uncle Cliffy products including an ointment, aimed at helping athletes with pain relief in specific areas of the body.

A look at the trading card-style business card for Cliff Robinson's "Uncle Spliffy" line of sports performance cannabis products signed by the former Portland Trail Blazers star. Sean Meagher/Staff

Robinson, who recently had a stroke due to high blood pressure, has been using his own products to aid his recovery and says it helped him deal with the constant anxiety associated with his health scare.

The former Trail Blazers star isn't the only well-known athlete to use cannabis after a health-related incident.

To help with the constant pain from his back surgery, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr used marijuana briefly during his lengthy recovery. Kerr believes that marijuana is much safer than prescription pain pills and hopes one day professional sport leagues will allow the use of cannabis products.

"If you're an NFL player in particular and you got lot of pain, I don't think there's any question that pot is better for your body than Vicodin," Kerr said on a 2016 CSN Bay Area Podcast. "And yet, athletes everywhere are prescribed Vicodin like it's Vitamin C, like it's no big deal. There's like this perception in our country that over-the-counter drugs are fine, but pot is bad. Now, I think that's changing. You're seeing that change in these laws that you're talking about in different states, including California. But I would just hope that sports leagues are able to look past the perception."

Despite the beliefs of Kerr and Robinson regarding the healing properties of cannabis, professional sports leagues have been steadfast against the use of marijuana. NBA commissioner Adam Silver told GQ in 2014 that the league believes marijuana negatively affects a player's performance.

Cliff Robinson poses in front of the grow at Pistil Point Cannabis. Pistil Point is Robinson's partner for his line of sports performance marijuana products.Sean Meagher/Staff

"This is a policy matter, and it's our strong preference that our players do not consume marijuana," Silver said. "We believe it will affect their performance on the court."

Silver did acknowledge however, that "marijuana testing is something that's collectively bargained with the players' association" so at some point, an adjustment to their policy could eventually happen. Right now a change in that policy seems slim, but that's enough for Robinson and what he envisions for the future of Uncle Cliffy.

A keynote speaker at the 2016 Cannabis Collaborative Conference, Robinson has been a vocal advocate of marijuana since he retired from the NBA in 2007. His arrival in the marijuana industry is just an extension of Robinson's advocacy and he is already having conversations with the National Basketball Players Association about the healing and medicinal properties of cannabis.

For Robinson his belief and passion for cannabis is a direct result of the stigma he faced during his career due to his repeated suspensions for marijuana use. He had desires to get into coaching after his playing career ended but according to Robinson, those opportunities were non-existent because of his past suspensions.

Now Robinson is hoping that with the growth of Uncle Cliffy and his continued advocacy, one day professional sports leagues like the NBA may soften their stance or even embrace cannabis.

"The more we continue to stay out in front of it in a positive way and continue to push being responsible with it," Robinson said. "I think cannabis will eventually be recognized as a help for athletes rather than a hinderance."